[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Melanie Faith
Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
The Society of Professional Journalists
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Maxine Greene
Philosopher and Education Scholar
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Weekly Wide-Awake: Beautiful Short Loser
Tell me this, why is the past tense always longer?
Ocean Vuong
The past tense is always longer because are memories are always bigger than real time. The past tense is always longer because our stories are built of drama and details. The past tense is always longer because secrets carry weight. The past tense always longer because paying attention makes time slow down. The past tense is always longer because we remember loss and pain vividly. The past tense is always longer because we forget joy quickly.
I have always struggled to embrace my unique self. I have heard about people who naturally get it. They love themselves just as they are. Full stop. No disclaimers. No shame. No walking back. No need to convince. They simply accept and love themselves, and in my experience, others. As much a I would like to say that is me, it is not. I suffer from Not good enough — I am a poser/fraud — I suck at math so I must be stupid — if people only knew me Syndrome.
This Weekly Wide-Awake is dedicated to people like me who struggle to love ourselves. It considers our pasts, imaginations, memories, possibility, and universality in an effort to make peace with our unique selves.
About Katie
Born in Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.
